The US Department of Health and Human Services said it is re-establishing the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, a panel of US health officials tasked with making recommendations on vaccine development,

A long-shuttered federal task force on childhood vaccine safety is being revived, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday

Citing concerns over Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. | The nation's largest pediatrician professional organization urged providers and insurers to consider its evidence-backed vaccine recommendations,

The original task force was disbanded in 1998, the health agency said, adding that NIH director Jay Bhattacharya will serve as the chairman.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is relaunching a task force focused on the safety of childhood vaccines. | The Department of Health and Human Services is relaunching a task force focused on the safety of childhood vaccines.

The panel’s reinstatement is one of a series of controversial moves made by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to put vaccines under new scrutiny.

The task force was originally created by Congress under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, but was disbanded in 1998. HHS said the group, which will also include representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration, will send its first report to Congress within 2 years.

The new panel will consist of experts from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, with NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya serving as chairman.